Categories of individuals covered by the system: The individuals on whom records are maintained in this system are individuals
who are involved in litigation with SSA or (in matters within the jurisdiction
of SSA) the United States as defendants in civil matters seeking Social Security
benefit payments and other types of procedural relief in claims and benefits
processing.

Categories of records in the system: The records contain documents either filed in court cases or collected in
support of court activities that SSA is either involved in or in which it
believes it will or may become involved.

Authorities for maintenance of the system: The authorities for maintaining this system are the various statutes,
regulations, rules or orders pertaining to the subject matter of the litigation
(e.g., the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 405(g) and 1383(c)).

Purposes: To enable the Office of the General Counsel to efficiently and effectively
manage the records of the benefit claim cases being litigated in court.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories of users
and the purposes of such uses:

Disclosure may be made for routine uses as indicated below:

1. Records are used in
communicating with, among others, Federal and State agencies, private
individuals, private attorneys, the United States Attorney and other Federal
officials and agencies. These communications are all for the purpose of
providing status information on pending litigation and managing the litigation
workload.

2. Information may be disclosed to
any Federal, State or local agency when the information is relevant to a matter
involving the administration of a Federal, State or local income program.

3. Disclosure to a congressional
office in response to an inquiry from that office made at the request of the
subject of a record.

4. Disclosure to the Office of the
President for the purpose of responding to an individual pursuant to an inquiry
received from that individual or from a third party on his or her behalf.

5. To the Department of Justice
(DOJ), a court or other tribunal, including an administrative tribunal or
another party in litigation before such tribunal, when:

(a) SSA, or any component thereof;

(b) any SSA employee in his/her official capacity;

(c) any SSA employee in his/her individual capacity when DOJ (or SSA where it is
authorized to do so) has agreed to represent the employee; or

(d) the United States or any agency thereof where SSA determines that the
litigation is likely to affect the operations of SSA or any of its components, is a party to the litigation or has an interest in such litigation, and SSA
determines that the use of such records by DOJ, the court or other tribunal is
relevant and necessary to the litigation.

6. Information may be disclosed to
the Department of Justice for the purpose of obtaining that Department's advice
concerning disclosure of such information under the Freedom of Information Act,
5 U.S.C. 552.

7. Records from this system may be
disclosed to a private firm under contract to SSA for the purpose of having that
firm convert the records to machine- readable form, or collate, analyze,
aggregate or otherwise refine the information in the records. The
contractor will be required to maintain Privacy Act safeguards with respect to
such records.

8. Information may be disclosed to
student volunteers and other workers who technically do not have the status of
Federal employees, when they are performing work for SSA as authorized by law,
and they need access to personally identifiable information in SSA records in
order to perform their assigned Agency functions.

9. To a Federal, State, or local
agency for law enforcement purposes concerning a violation of law pertaining to
the records in this system.

10. To Federal, State, or local law
enforcement agencies and private security contractors as appropriate, if
information is necessary (a) to enable them to protect the safety of SSA
employees and customers, the security of the SSA workplace, and the operations
of SSA facilities, or (b) to assist in investigations or prosecutions with
respect to activities that disrupt the operation of SSA facilities.

11. Non-tax return information which is not restricted from disclosure by federal
law may be disclosed to the General Services Administration (GSA) and the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under 44 U.S.C. sections
2904 and 2906, as amended by NARA Act of 1984, for the use of those agencies in
conducting records management studies.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining, and
disposing of records in the system:

Storage:
Information (court papers and other records) may be stored in files in filing
cabinets and on a variety of computer-readable, electronic media (including
disc, mass storage and magnetic tape).

Retrievability: The records in this system relating to litigation in court are retrieved by the
court docket number. In addition, records in this system may be retrieved
by the names of parties.

Safeguards:
The buildings where these records are stored are safeguarded by a variety of
physical security systems that permit access only by authorized personnel and
authorized visitors escorted by authorized personnel.

Retention and disposal:
Records are maintained until the judicial proceedings have ended and for varying
periods of time thereafter, subject to the Federal Records Act and applicable
retention schedules.

System manager(s) and address:
The Agency official responsible for the system policies and practices outlined
above is: the General Counsel, Social Security Administration, Room 617 Altmeyer
Building,
6401 Security Boulevard,
Baltimore,
Md.
21235.

Notification procedure: An individual can determine if this system contains a record about him/her by
writing to the systems manager(s) at the above address and providing his/her
name, SSN or other information that may be in the system of records that will
identify him/her. An individual requesting notification of records in
person should provide the same information, as well as provide an identity
document, preferably with a photograph, such as a driver’s license or some other
means of identification, such as a voter registration card, credit card, etc.
If an individual does not have any identification documents sufficient to
establish his/her identity, the individual must certify in writing that he/she
is the person claimed to be and that he/she understands that the knowing and
willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to another
individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense.

If notification is requested by telephone, an individual must verify his/her
identity by providing identifying information that parallels the record to which
notification is being requested. If it is determined that the identifying
information provided by telephone is insufficient, the individual will be
required to submit a request in writing or in person. If an individual is
requesting information by telephone on behalf of another individual, the subject
individual must be connected with SSA and the requesting individual in the same
phone call. SSA will establish the subject individual’s identity (his/her
name, SSN, address, date of birth and place of birth along with one other piece
of information such as mother’s maiden name) and ask for his/her
consent in providing information to the requesting individual.

If a request for notification is submitted by mail, an individual must include a
notarized statement to SSA to verify his/her identity or must certify in the
request that he/she is the person claimed to be and that he/she understands that
the knowing and willful request for, or acquisition of, a record pertaining to
another individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense. These
procedures are in accordance with SSA Regulations (20 CFR § 401.40).

Record access procedure:
Same as notification procedures. Also, requesters should reasonably
specify the record contents being sought. Access will not be provided to
information about drafts or copies of draft documents or internal government
communications.

Contesting record procedure:
Same as notification procedures above. Also, requesters should reasonably
identify the record, specify the information that is contested, state the
corrective actions sought and the reasons for requesting the correction, and
furnish supporting evidence to show why the record is not accurate, timely,
complete, relevant or necessary. These procedures comply with applicable
regulations.

Record source categories:
The sources for information in this system include attorneys and staff in OGC,
formal and informal discovery, Federal and State agencies and the individuals
involved in the litigation of benefit claims.

Important Information:

Other Government Websites:

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Disclaimer

The Social Security Administration (SSA) website contains links to websites not affiliated with the United States government. These may include State and Local governmental agencies, international agencies, and private entities.

SSA cannot attest to the accuracy of information provided by such websites. If we provide a link to such a website, this does not constitute an endorsement by SSA or any of its employees of the information or products presented on the non-SSA website.

Also, such websites are not within our control and may not follow the same privacy, security or accessibility policies. Once you visit such a website, you are subject to the policies of that site.